Pascual Orozco
Encyclopedia
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
revolutionary leader who, after the triumph of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, rose up against Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
and recognized the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
led by Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
and the government it imposed.
Childhood
Orozco was born to a middle class family on Santa Ines haciendaHacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
near San Isidro, Guerrero
Guerrero, Chihuahua
Guerrero is a one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Vicente Guerrero . The municipality covers an area of 5,603.6 km²....
, in the state of Chihuahua. He worked as a mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
teer and store keeper before he became wealthy from an investment in a gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mine.
His father was Pascual Orozco Sr. His mother was Amada Orozco y Vázquez (1852 - 1948). The Vázquez family were second generation Basque immigrants. Pascual Jr. married Refugio Frías, and dedicated his youth to the transport of precious metals between the mining firms of the state. This allowed him to buy his own gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mine. Also he was uncle of Maximiano Márquez Orozco, who participated in the Mexican Revolution as Coronel of Villista Army. In the first years of the 20th century he was attracted by the ideas of the Flores Magón
Ricardo Flores Magón
Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique and Jesús were also active in politics. Followers of the Magón brothers were known as Magonistas....
brothers and, in 1909, he started importing weaponry
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the face of the imminent outbreak of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
.
Political ideas
He objected to the Porfirio DíazPorfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
dictatorship, and first ran into trouble with the law when caught with anti-Díaz literature in 1906. In May 1909 Orozco and José Inés Salazar
José Inés Salazar
José Inés Salazar was a leading Orozquista General in the Mexican Revolution.Salazar was a native of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua.Prior to the Mexican Revolution he was a member of the Partido Liberal Mexicano....
purchased weapons in the United States and took them to Mexico on behalf of the Flores Magon
Flores Magón
Flores Magón is a Mexican surname.People with the surname Flores Magón include the trio of Mexican anarchist brothers:*Ricardo Flores Magón *Jesús Flores Magón *Enrique Flores Magón...
brothers.
When Francisco I. Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
called for an uprising against Díaz in 1910, Orozco was an enthusiastic supporter and, on 31 October of that year, was placed in command of the revolutionary forces in Guerrero municipality. He led his forces to a series of victories against Díaz loyalists, and by the end of the year most of the state was in the hands of the revolutionaries. At this point, Orozco was a hero in Chihuahua, with over 30,000 people lining the streets upon his return. Madero promoted him to colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, and in early 1911 to brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
, remarkably, these promotions were earned without any kind of military knowledge or military training. On 10 May of that year Orozco and his subordinate general Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
seized Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, which Madero made the capital of his new provisional government.
Under Madero's government
On 31 October 1910 he was named jefe revolucionario (revolutionary leader) of the Benito Juárez Anti Re-election Club in Guerrero District. A week after the beginning of the war, he obtained his first victory, against General Juan Navarro. After ambushing the federal troops in Cañón del Mal Paso on 2 January 1911, he ordered the dead soldiers stripped and sent the uniforms to Presidente DíazPorfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
with a note that read, "Ahí te van las hojas, mándame más tamales". ("Here are the wrappers, send me more tamales.") His bellicose attitude made him to ascend in ranks rather quickly within the maderist
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
troops. He was eventually made general, having Francisco Villa among his subordinates. After the seizure of Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Madero designated his first provisional cabinet , having Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
, a wealthy landowner like Madero, in the Ministerio de Guerra (War Ministry), a position that Orozco longed for. Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
would eventually become a President of Mexico. Orozco and Villa first confronted Madero by bursting into a meeting of his shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
after the first Battle of Juarez.
Fallout with Madero
After Díaz's fall, Orozco became resentful at Madero's failure to name him to the cabinet or a state governorship. Orozco was particularly upset with Madero's failure to create a series of social reforms that he promised at the beginning of the revolution. Orozco believed that Madero was very similar to Diaz whom he helped overthrow. When Madero asked him to lead troops against the forces of Emiliano ZapataEmiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
, Orozco refused and offered his resignation, which Madero did not accept. Orozco was then offered the governorship of Chihuahua, which he refused, and Madero finally accepted his resignation from the federal government.
When Díaz presented his resignation, Orozco was named commander of the federal rural police (Los Rurales
Rurales
Rurales was the name commonly used to designate the Mexican Guardia Rural : a force of mounted police or gendarmerie that existed between 1861 and 1914...
) in Chihuahua and governor candidate for the Club Independiente Chihuahuense, an organization opposed to Francisco I. Madero. After receiving many admonitions by the revolutionary hierarchy, he was compelled to resign his candidature on 15 July 1911. Subsequently he refused to fight the troops of Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
in the south and summoned a revolt against President Madero on 3 March 1912. Orozco was financing the rebellion with his own assets and with livestock robbery, which was sold in the neighbouring state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where he bought weapons and ammunition even after the embargo proclaimed by U.S. president William Taft.
Revolt against Madero
On 3 March 1912 Orozco decreed a formal revolt against Madero's government. Orozco's forces known as the Orozquistas and Colorados (Red Flaggers) smashed Madero's army during several engagements. Seeing the potential danger that Orozco posed to his regime, Madero sent general Victoriano HuertaVictoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
out of retirement to stop Orozco's Rebellion, which Huerta accomplished by August partially because Orozco was not able to acquire adequate supplies to defeat him. Orozco took refuge in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Madero ordered Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
to fight the rebellion. Huerta's troops defeated the orozquistas in Conejos, Rellano
Second battle of Rellano
The Second Battle of Rellano of 22 May 1912 was an engagement of the Mexican Revolution between rebel forces under Pascual Orozco and government troops under General Victoriano Huerta, at the railroad station of Rellano, Chihuahua...
and Bachimba finally seizing Ciudad Juárez. After being wounded in Ojinaga
Ojinaga
Ojinaga Municipality is one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Ojinaga, a rural bordertown on the U.S.-Mexico border...
, Orozco was forced to flee to the United States. After living for some months in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, with his first cousin, Teodora Vazquez Molinar' Gonzalez (1879 - 1956) and husband, Carlos Diaz-Ferrales Gonzalez (1878 - 1953) he was able to return to Chihuahua but extremely ill, affected with periodic rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
seizures.
After Huerta installed himself as President of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
, Orozco agreed to support him if Huerta agreed to some reforms (such as payment of hacienda workers in hard money rather than company store scrip). Huerta agreed, and had Orozco, as Commanding General of all Mexican Federal forces, lead attacks against the revolutionaries and Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
. Orozco defeats the Constitutionalists at Ciudad Camargo, Mapula, Santa Rosalia, Zacatecas, and Torreón before Huerta was deposed.
After Huerta's fall Orozco announced his refusal to recognize the government of the new president, Francisco S. Carvajal
Francisco S. Carvajal
Francisco Sebastián Carvajal y Gual was a Mexican lawyer and politician who served briefly as president in 1914. In his role as foreign minister, he succeeded Victoriano Huerta as president upon the latter's resignation.Born in 1870 in Campeche, Carvajal studied jurisprudence...
whom he viewed to be similar to Madero. After briefly leading a revolt financed with his own money where he took in Guanajuato where he wins several successive engagements against the Constitutionalists but is forced to retreat because he lacked sufficient manpower to hold the ground he won. He was again forced into exile in the United States.
House arrest in the United States
In the USA he met with Huerta in New York to make plans to retake Mexico. On 27 June 1915 the two were arrested in Newman, New MexicoNewman, New Mexico
Newman is an unincorporated area in Otero County, New Mexico, United States of America. It is located at . It was a small railroad town and yard. It is located just north of Newman, Texas, which is just to the south across the Texas state line...
, and charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. neutrality laws. He was placed under house arrest in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, but managed to escape back into Mexico.
Orozco managed to escape and on his way back to Mexico, he was ultimately killed in Texas on 30 August 1915. The official U.S. report stated that Orozco and his men had crossed by Dick Love's ranch and had coerced the cook to prepare him a meal and attend his horses, while Orozco and his men got ready to steal Love's cattle. When the owner arrived, they fled on the rancher's horses. The facts of this are often disputed because in other accounts it is believed that the horses belonged to Orozco and Love set up Orozco to seek revenge for an earlier dispute. Love used his accusations to persuade 26 members from the Thirteenth U.S. cavalry
United States Cavalry
The United States Cavalry, or U.S. Cavalry, is the designation of the mounted force of the United States Army. The role of the U.S. Cavalry is reconnaissance, security and mounted assault. Cavalry has served as a part of the Army forces in every war in which the United States has participated...
, 8 local deputies and 13 Texas Rangers to pursue the mysterious horse thieves whom he purposefully fails to mention by name to ensure their participation. The posse in pursuit of Orozco's group caught up with them on Van Horn Mountain, eight miles (15 km) south of Lobo, Texas
Lobo, Texas
Lobo is a ghost town in Culberson County, Texas, United States that was abandoned in 1991.-Geography:Lobo is located at between the Van Horn Mountains and Wylie Mountains. It is situated along U.S...
. There was a gunfight, and Orozco was killed, and all of his men. A Mexican version asserts that Orozco was murdered trying to resist the robbery of his own horses by Love and his men. On 7 October a local hearing against the 40-plus Americans involved was initiated, but the court found the people involved innocent of all charges.
On 3 September 1915 Orozco's remains were buried in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, at the decision of his wife in Concordia Cemetery
Concordia Cemetery
Concordia Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at Buffalo in Erie County, New York. It consists of a rectangular plot and was founded in 1859 by three German Lutheran congregations; First Trinity Lutheran Church, St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, and St. Stephen's Evangelical Church...
, dressed in a full Mexican general's uniform, with the Mexican flag draping his coffin, in front of three thousand followers and admirers. In 1923, his remains were returned to his home state of Chihuahua.